Help Create A Whale Sanctuary

The Caribbean is a well-known tourism destination, attracting many people from expert divers to novice snorkelers for its amazing coral reefs and abundance of marine life, including whales. In fact, whale watching in the region is a rapidly growing and profitable industry.

Yet unbelievably, four Caribbean nations -- St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Lucia -- consistently vote against protecting whales at the annual International Whaling Commission meeting.

They don’t even support a proposal to establish a whale sanctuary in the nearby waters of the South Atlantic! A vote to establish the sanctuary will be held at the 2011 IWC meeting, and we need your help now to make it happen!

Their neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has been the standout leader on whale protection in the region, and now we must encourage them to follow in its footsteps.

TAKE ACTION

Use the form provided to send an email to these four island nations, urging them to support the proposal for the South Atlantic sanctuary. Protecting whales in waters neighboring their region will help ensure valuable tourism revenue opportunities for their citizens. Please be sure to edit the letter below -- it's much more effective to express your concerns in your own words!

I am writing to urge you to support the proposal to establish a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic at the upcoming IWC meeting.

Whale watching is a profitable and growing industry. It isn't just tour operators who stand to gain from it: local communities profit from tourist dollars spent on restaurants, lodging, and other services. Protecting whales in waters neighboring the Caribbean means protecting the growing ecotourism market in your region.

Please join your neighbor, the Dominican Republic, in voting to protect whales by establishing a safe haven for them in the South Atlantic. Your vote is important and would demonstrate to both your citizens and visitors a commitment to ecotourism and whale protection.